


Chains Unbound

by Mochas N Mayhem (KoohiiCafe)



Series: Bound in Story [2]
Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek, Star Trek: The Original Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-07
Updated: 2015-08-07
Packaged: 2018-04-13 10:27:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4518342
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KoohiiCafe/pseuds/Mochas%20N%20Mayhem
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chains were her weapons, broken free from the place where the Shadow Men had trapped her that first time, and she wielded them as if they were an extension of herself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chains Unbound

**Author's Note:**

> **Title:** Chains Unbound  
>  **Author:** Koohii Cafe  
>  **Rating:** General Audiences  
>  **Crossover:** BtVS/Star Trek: The Original Series  
>  **Disclaimer:** Since I am a poor chickadee with no wealth to speak of, I think it's safe to say that neither BtVS nor Star Trek: The Original Series are mine. ^^;  
>  **Written for:** [TtH](http://www.tthfanfic.org/) [August Fic A Day Challenge](http://forum.tthfanfic.org/index.php?topic=9537.0)  
>  **Summary:** _Chains were her weapons, broken free from the place where the Shadow Men had trapped her that first time, and she wielded them as if they were an extension of herself._  
>  **Author's notes:** Sequel to my story '[Bound in Story](http://twistedshorts.livejournal.com/732250.html).'

Time... Time here was ageless. Time passed with no meaning, Time didn't pass at all, Time moved and stop and sped and slowed and crawled and broke and meant nothing at all. It wasn't like the first time she'd been here, when Xander and Dawn had spun the shadow caster and she'd jumped through the portal in search of answers. She'd learned that the hard way by now. But then, she hadn't jumped through a portal to get here this time. She'd simply... been trapped.

Except- not simply. There was nothing simple about it. Especially since she wasn't even sure how she'd _gotten_ here. She'd been- in the Hellmouth. With Spike. He'd started to burn, as she held his hand, as she told him she loved him, and he'd told her to go- but she hadn't. She hadn't been able to leave him, not when he was about to leave her like that. Not when he hadn't believed her when she'd finally admitted the truth to him- and to herself. So she'd stayed. She'd held his hand, as he burned, and it had been hurt, but no more than her heart hurt knowing she was going to lose him. It still hurt, really, because time was meaningless here, and his loss was as burned into her now as it had been the day she'd arrived. Which had been after. After Spike burned. After he single-handedly decimated the First's army. After the Hellmouth collapsed on top of them, and darkness had fallen as the ground gave way beneath them, and _she_ had fallen into that darkness- and woken _here_.

Here in the Timeless before. This place where she'd met the Shadow Men and had refused to let them take away her humanity, not even for the promise of more power. Here where full blooded demons still walked the Earth, in a desert that was an endless day and an endless fight. Because it _was_ an endless fight, with demons after demons after demons coming for her, as if they were inexorably drawn to her, and she to them, and if there was one thing the demons craved, it was her blood. So she fought, and she ran, and she fought, and she ran, and she fought, and she tried desperately not to think about the fact that, this time, there would be no rescue. There was no Willow on the other side of a portal, this time, struggling to bring her back, because as far as Willow or any of the others knew... she was dead. Lost in the destruction of the Hellmouth.

Time here was an eternity. She felt like she had been fighting for forever. She felt like she had barely begun to fight. She felt like the fight would never end, and she _knew_ it never would.

And then, after an eternity of fighting... there was a man.

Not a Shadow Man, but a golden man, shining in the desert sun that beat down upon them, his hair fair, his skin bronze, his eyes determined, a narrowed hazel gold that she could have gotten lost in were it not for this timeless wasteland full of dangers; one of which was just behind him. Shocked as she was by the sudden appearance of a golden god of a man, she almost didn't shout out in time;

" _Get down_!"

But she did, and he heard her, instinctively throwing himself down into a roll just as the spiked arm of a demon swung through the space his head had just occupied. The demon growled, _roared_ , denied its prey, and rushed forwards towards the man, intent on reclaiming its prize, but Buffy was there first. Chains were her weapons, broken free from the place where the Shadow Men had trapped her that first time, and she wielded them as if they were an extension of herself; it was effortless, by now, to whip one out and catch the arm of the demon, to watch as the chain wrapped around and snagged its wrist perfectly, giving her exactly the leverage she needed to _yank_ the thing back and away from the man. The second chain she swung up into the air, then brought it down ruthlessly to slam into the demon's head. It roared again, in pain this time, rather than anger, and tried to pull away, but her chain was still wrapped firmly around its wrist, a hold she refused to relinquish, a hold she used to drag it in closer, close enough that she could kick out with her legs at its chest, strong enough to send it crashing down to the sandy ground. She was ready, then, to move in for the kill, before-

" _Behind you_!" The word were shouted, and before she could think, the man was throwing himself past her, shoulder first into a demon that had managed to slip past her radar and defenses, and then the demon beneath her was surging up and it was all she could do to worry about _it_ , much less worry about the man and the second demon.

Long minutes later- and perhaps hours, it was impossible to tell in this place- the demon beneath her was slain, laying still and bloody at her feet, and Buffy was turning, to find the man, to help him with the second demon- only to find he had already triumphed and was standing, hunched over slightly, panting with the effort of it, and bleeding with a multitude of cuts and slices from the demon's claws. Then, slowly, as if aware of her eyes on him, he straightened, those glowing golden eyes meeting hers- and a kind of thrill rushed over her.

"Are you- alright?" He was moving, towards her, concern in his eyes, his brows furrowed, his hand extended, an offer for help if she needed it, and she backed up a step instinctively, her grip on her chains tightening as his hand dropped back down. The only men- the only other _humans_ \- she'd seen since coming to this place had been the Shadow Men, and she had no idea where _this_ man had come from. Or how he was speaking- English? Yes, that was definitely English.

"Who are you?" she asked, rather than answer. She was fine. She had to be fine, here. She was all she had here.

"I'm Cap- I'm James Kirk. But you can call me Jim, Miss...?" The concern in his eyes looked genuine, matched the concern in his voice.

"Buffy." The name meant nothing, rung no bells, but he hadn't taken another step towards her, had stopped as soon as she stepped back. That, with his voice, worried and calming at the same time, caused her to relax a little. He wasn't a Shadow Man, and he was respecting her boundaries. Who he was, name aside, she didn't know yet, but that was a start. "How did you get here?"

"There was a- book. It had a story inside, and a- shadow show. I read it, and there was a-"

"Portal." Crap. He'd come the same way she had, the first time. He nodded to her, slowly, acknowledging the truth of her words.

"You broke the chains?" It was a question, those golden green eyes flitting downwards to the chains she held. There was something to his words, something more than just a simple question, as if they had meaning to him they didn't have to her. She nodded.

"Yeah. I wasn't a big fan of the whole 'forsaking-my-humanity' thing." Her own words a challenge, a test, although she expected he'd pass, and her chin jut up a little in defiance. He smiled a little, and the look of it made her knees go a little weak despite herself. It was _too soon_ , and yet it had been an eternity since she'd lost Spike, and she quickly refocused, as he answered;

"Good. I'm here to bring you home." His words were firm, confident, and didn't he realize? There _was_ no way out. Not without a powerful witch on the other side, to open the portal and bring them back.

"Jim-" she started, and got no further than that. No, she stopped dead in her tracks because there, behind him-

"I'm meant to bring you home... if you'll come with me, that is." The air behind him was crackling, and his hand reached out to her again, even as the portal snapped its way into existence with a thunderous _crack_. And that- that was enough for her.

" _God_ , please," she answered, and took his hand. He chuckled, his smile crinkling the corners of his eyes, and his palm was warm in hers, and then he was pulling her towards the portal. The chains she left behind as she let him tug her to freedom.


End file.
